Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling offers advantages over venous blood sampling. For example, the small volume of blood in DBS samples accommodates collection in preclinical drug analysis studies using small animals such as mice and rats without sacrificing the subject animals. In addition, the small volume makes clinical collection more tolerable, especially for children and infants. A typical DBS carrier is in the form of a collection card manufactured from absorbent filter paper and adapted to hold a plurality of DBS samples. After blood is applied to the DBS card, the blood is allowed to dry for several hours. The resulting DBS is substantially inert. Advantageously, the small sample volume acquired for the DBS and the reduced sensitivity of the DBS to temperature make transporting DBS samples convenient and inexpensive. In addition, DBS samples can be stored for months without refrigeration and handled at room temperature in ambient atmospheric conditions over a moderate range of humidity.
The effort required at the analysis site to extract the DBS components from the DBS card and the variability in the measurement results are significant disadvantages when compared with conventional measurements performed using venous blood samples. The present invention successfully addresses these problems and provides additional advantages.